ENFANTS TERRIBLES

esidential sector and the usage of final energy in public lighting.
Energy infrastructure funds from POIM
About half of the money in this category will be spent
on energy efficiency renovation of public infrastructure,
demonstration projects and supporting measures.
This decision appears to be in line with the argument made
in the first section of the PA that the efficiency in energy
use is reduced, due to poor insulation of both public and
private buildings and poor transmission and distribution
infrastructure. However, the allocation in POIM only refers
to the renovation of public infrastructure, and does include
the existing housing stock, which is covered by the Regional
Operational Programme (POR).
There is one other measure in the entire OP aiming to
increase energy efficiency in the industrial sector by
introducing an electricity consumption monitoring system
for industrial consumers. Its expected result is that industrial
users would be more aware of their energy consumption
and will be encouraged to reduce it. It is estimated that
monitoring alone may reduce electricity consumption by
3-5%.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF OTHER OPERATIONAL
PROGRAMMES TO CLIMATE OBJECTIVES
Competitiveness and local development
The competitiveness and local development
challenge according to the PA
The development needs set out in this section are economic
growth needs, considering challenging market conditions, low
business density, low value-adding economic activities, FDI,
exports, ITC sector, etc. Climate change is mentioned only in
regard to agriculture, and insurance and risk management
instruments are given as potential solutions for the way
climate change impacts agriculture.
With regard to fishing and aquaculture, the needs assessment
refers to needs in terms of infrastructure. While the PA states
that Romania needs to comply with Common Fisheries Policy
rules, the key point in the document is that other Black Sea
countries do not have to comply with the same rules, thus
affecting Romania’s competitiveness.
One of the sectors in which energy, environment and climate
change are set out as priorities is the R&D sector, but the
only mention regarding targets in respect to low-carbon
energy technologies is the SET Plan, which should be taken
into account.
The Competitiveness Operational Programme (POC)
The Competitiveness Operational Programme (POC) does
not directly finance climate actions. However, when it comes
to research and development measures, environment and
climate change is one of the financed research areas; there
is also support for research organisations to take part in the
Horizon 2020 programme (which includes funding of research
on environment, climate change, energy efficiency, etc.);
the support for ITC solutions in public services and cloud
computing contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions 214 .
PEOPLE, SOCIETY AND ADMINISTRATION
The people and society challenge according to the PA
This section deals with the needs for development concerning
employment and labour mobility, poverty, social inclusion and
education. The main challenge identified is the very low level of
demand on the labour market, which generates a low domestic
employment rate, low wages, a highly selective labour market
and international migration.
While this section deals mostly with human resources and
social issues, there is potential for climate mainstreaming that
remains mostly untapped in at least two areas:
Firstly, the priorities for investment towards employment,
labour mobility and education could be targeted at helping
the labour force transition from an energy-intensive way of
doing business to a low-carbon economy, to anticipate the
decreasing number of jobs in the fossil-fuel industry and
increasing number of jobs in the RE sector. The PA mentions
that investments in education and vocational training
will be focused on ‘those areas with growth potential that
contribute to the increasing of the employability of higher
education graduates in the competitive sectors and/or
traditional sectors’ 215 , but there is no clear reference to
training that would support the shift towards a low-carbon
economy (for example, academic and skills training and
other professional conversion mechanisms for people
who currently work in the mining industry or fossil-fuel
installations, and in general for moving the labour force
currently in high-energy industries towards low-carbon
industries).
Secondly, climate change could also be considered when
it comes to investments in the physical infrastructure
for education, healthcare, social assistance and other
services. The PA takes this into account when discussing
the healthcare infrastructure. One measure is to reduce
214 POC, p. 154
215 Partnership Agreement, Romania, 2014RO16M8PA001.1.2, p. 88
‘Climate’s enfants terribles: how new Member States’ misguided use of EU funds is holding back Europe’s clean energy transition’ 137